30.10.09

What a discovery this fellow is. Go here (his agent's page) and scroll down to find samples, the Ravel Sonatine especially.

Sokolov no longer plays concertos:

"It's very simple. For piano is written an ocean of music, and during your lifetime you are not able to play even a small part of it. On the other hand, with an orchestra it's not easy to find enough time to rehearse; or to find an orchestra which is interested in the final product and not looking at their watch. It's also not easy with conductors, because you must find the combination of a very good musician who has this special talent to follow and to understand the music in the same way as you. It's very rare, I must say! And comes maybe the worst: if you play a solo piece several times over several days you will develop, you will go to another level with it; but with a concerto you play this piece again and again, and yet with each orchestra and each conductor you must start from scratch at the first rehearsal. So, if you spend so much energy on concertos, and you could use it instead far more more effectively for recitals; why do it? I very much like the fact that in playing recitals]everything I do depends only on me. With a hundred other people it's almost impossible. [Alone] you don´t have the responsibility."

The point is general: it often happens, when we become exceptionally good at something, that we must simply learn to forge ahead alone because trying to engage others simply slows us down.